When we start a New Year there is always a lot of hype about a new season, a new beginning and a new way of doing things. If the old way isn’t working, by all means find a new way, but if what you’re doing is consistent with your values, and leading you forward in the right direction, then the hype might better be replaced with “Steady On!” There is no magical swipe of the wand that changes one day from the next unless your perceptions change.

I am a natural activator. It is my top Strength. Taking action has always come easily for me. It is accompanied by my strengths in Ideation and Focus. I can generally come up with an idea, plan and execute it without too much difficulty. The hitch is that although I may have these natural giftings, it doesn’t mean that what I can “produce” effortlessly is the highest good, or that every idea should be executed. Better put, if I settle for the lessor (easier) I could be forfeiting something greater. This awareness has led me on a journey of less action and more being, less striving and more seeing.

Action can keep us busy. If we are not careful we can spend our lives chasing after something illusive until one day we wonder what we're running after. Action can even be a coping mechanism that keeps us ignoring something at a deeper level that needs attention. We're often goal driven when we live from an outer context of comparing what others are doing and what we wish we had. What if instead we lived from a more natural and organic order of things?

What if we were led to act from a deeper well of knowing than a mere gut reflex and impulse to produce and compete? What if instead of spraying the world and covering it with a “lust for,” we infused the world with a sense of “already being?” What if instead of giving way to the age-old, ego-driven compulsion to conquer new territory, we saturated the territory we already possess with life and goodness overflow?

VALUE is the Lance Secretan SPIRIT@WORK® Card I drew today and it states,

“In Western societies, we are addicted to goals and achievement, often believing that by simply defining a goal, we will make the outcome real. Living a goal-directed life is modern but unnatural. Even though there is no shortage of experts who urge us to plan, no other part of our lives is managed this way. It isn’t fun, it is graceless, and it is not fulfilling. Values guide all human interaction-not goals. A life lived within a framework of sound values produces harmony, balance and serenity for the soul. Paying attention to our values and detaching from outcomes will, paradoxically, lead to a higher order of goals.”

I hope this gives you something rich to ponder. Although it might be entirely different from your frame of reference or your way of living, consider it for a moment and share your thoughts on the subject. The art journaling piece at the top says, "She tossed her plans in the trash, embraced life as it came, fully alive and present she lived from a place of inner values and spirit." :)